Know that picture of the kid with the lightweights and aero helmet?

[Nooch]

My six and a half year old daughter who learned how to ride on two wheels back on memorial day had been really interested in doing a bike race, since she's seen me race bikes. I happened to find a kid's mountain bike race about a half hour from home, so we went for it -- .6 miles, and I was told fairly mild terrain.

Now, for a grown-up, I'd say it was mild, but for my six year old on her 20" specialized with a basket on the front and a coaster brake, it was pretty gnarly stuff. Still, we made it through (with me chasing/catching/nudging her along). Fifth out of 5, but fun times were had by all.

But as it pertains to the thread title, there was a boy in the next age group (the 2nd-3rd graders) on, and unless Dad just got handy with a Cricut, a 20 or 24" Alchemy mountain bike. That said, when we watched that race go off the young buck was absolutely shredding it, and I heard whispers in the crowd that Dad took him to Killington and he kept up with him, but it just made me remember the girl on the lightweights with the aero helmet.

[Mzilliox]

thats awesome, thanks for sharing

[ctcyclistbob]

That's awesome, and so is your daughter !!!

[Cicli]

This is awesome. :banana:

[Lanternrouge]

It seems so great to be able to share the fun with your daughter.

I believe the backstory of the kid in the picture you referenced is a dad in the bike business who maybe went a little crazy on a kids’ bike.

[Nooch]

It seems so great to be able to share the fun with your daughter.

I believe the backstory of the kid in the picture you referenced is a dad in the bike business who maybe went a little crazy on a kids’ bike.

I'm inclined to say the same about the kid on the Alchemy :)

That said, i was surprised by how many kids on smaller bikes had gears and disc brakes... And yes, I've already started looking at other bikes for her to actually learn to mountain bike.. And if she's going to mountain bike, then I suppose daddy needs a new mountain bike ;)

[SerottaBrad]

Congrats! Start em young. I remember i had always threatened my wife that i would get my girls a Ti tricycle when they were old enough.... that never happened

[oldpotatoe]

I think that’s just awesome but, old fart, grandpa hat on...the joy of riding is riding, not necessarily the competition aspect of it. Be a shame to get turned off on-riding cuz she’s not winning anything.

[Nooch]

I think that’s just awesome but, old fart, grandpa hat on...the joy of riding is riding, not necessarily the competition aspect of it. Be a shame to get turned off on-riding cuz she’s not winning anything.

Trust me old P, had she wanted to bail we would have bailed. It was entirely her call, from registering when we hadn’t had the time to practice that we had hoped for to continuing on when we saw the course was more than we expected, it was all her call :)

[dsimon]

That is so F'ing awesome

[flydhest]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190812/cc6dae08d282e4f58cea40d28aaab525.jpg

They actually had them motorpacing at the track today. My 8 year old went 23 mph.

[pdmtong]

my then 9yo daughter was riding full suspension mtbs with hydro discs with me 10+ years ago...those are things make riding a lot more fun.

other than the cost I'm also fully in favor of electronic shifting for kids road bikes. the entry sora and tiagra groups require a lot of throw to shift the FD - very hard for smaller hands.

that 9yo kid could really ride...we were doing the single blacks at lift-assisted northstar-at-tahoe and she could easily do a 30/2500' road ride.

and best of all was really fun to ride together. just make the ride about fun not about suffering. ice cream at the end is a pretty good incentive.

[Matthew]

Congrats to your daughter!! Good for her to do her first race a couple months after learning to ride on two wheels. She's awesome. Hopefully you've got a future shredder in the making!

[delish]

@Nooch I'm in your first photo somewhere. We had little ones in the K-1 and 2-3 races. I'm sure we cheered for your daughter at some point. Great event. Loved seeing the little ones pushing themselves.

Our dudes were on 20" Ilsabikes Bienn, which are superb bikes for this age. They are way lighter than anything with disc brakes which are overkill anyway, and they have sensible parts like 7 speed grip shifters, brake levers that fit their small hands, and a rigid fork. Unfortunately you can't buy them new any more but often pop up on the used market.

I know the Lightweight + aero helmet photo and was thinking the same thing, especially when dad insisted on doing the podium bike thing. FWIW, the 2nd place kid was on a Walmart bike. It would have been great to put all 3 podium bikes up there just for contrast.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48524804191_1a45f4ec35_c.jpg

[Louis]

Here's Nooch's daughter lining up for her next race. ( #461 )

http://i.imgur.com/NDDCn.jpg

[chiasticon]

I know the Lightweight + aero helmet photo and was thinking the same thing, especially when dad insisted on doing the podium bike thing.of course he did

[cleopants]

Awesome little girl. My son wants to build his own go kart and compete too. It's nice to see them growing.

[ianbjor]

My son (12) just rode his first 50-mile ride with his boy scout troop. He loves it, which is awesome, but now I’m looking at 44-46cm bikes lol.

[reuben]

My son (12) just rode his first 50-mile ride with his boy scout troop. He loves it, which is awesome, but now I’m looking at 44-46cm bikes lol.

We'll be sure to tell him that dad's all in for N+1. :banana: